"I saw some pretty hideous drafting on the bike course. People! If you're gonna cheat, do your friends a favor and don't wear your club gear!"
Funny you should say that, because in the Half IM I did last weekend, there was this group of three guys, all in club gear, within 1 bike length of each other throughout the hilly portion of the course, about 15 miles. They were grunting and swearing at/to each other(I thought I left that behind with the knuckleheads at the gym, but I guess there's room for meatheads everywhere), pulling each other up hills, and blocking on the flats and downhills. There were tight twisty country roads, too, so trying to get by the guy on the double yellow was risky to say the least. And these were the guys who stand on every climb, then coast on every flat, and scrub most of their speed on the corners, so I was pretty miserable trying to maintain a good speed on the flats and corners.
After the road flattened out again, I smoked two of them, and only one pulled away from me, but the experience soured me on tri clubs, not that I've ever been much of a joiner.
The beautiful irony of this is that every year at the big local club meets there are allegations of drafting, and the guys in the team jerseys get all pissy saying you can't just accuse people of drafting because they are riding ten in a row, right on each other's wheels, all in the same clothes. It's a crowded course people!
Sorry about the rant, but I am disgusted by people who use their club affiliation to unfair advantage. It undermines the entire point of the sport, and that of the clubs as well. And I would argue that yes, club members drafting are worse than regular drafters, since the clubs are supposed to represent and bring out the best in people and in the sport.
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